


if death is the last appointment

by cumulonimbi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Gen, M/M, i don't know where i'm going, let me live, magic kinda, romance maybe?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 14:24:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13549221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cumulonimbi/pseuds/cumulonimbi
Summary: In the underbelly of Seoul, stage magician Do Kyungsoo finally meets real magic face-to-face, and gets dragged into the mess it leaves in its wake. Alternatively, magic goes by the name of Byun Baekhyun.





	if death is the last appointment

**prelude**

“We sell…” Baekhyun starts, and then it takes him an amused half-smile and a forty-five head tilt to the right to come up with his next words. “I guess you could call it magic. We sell magic.” 

Kyungsoo stares at him blankly, trying to gauge if the other man is trying to bullshit him. But there’s no hint of joking in Baekhyun’s one visible eye. Kyungsoo tries his hardest not to look at the obvious bandages over the other one. There’s a scar over Baekhyun’s eyebrow above the patch, a thin line disappearing behind the black cloth, then fading out of the other side. Kyungsoo follows it down with his eyes, staring at where it ends on the highest point of Baekhyun’s cheek.

It’s eerie, almost shining a little in the dim shop lighting whenever Baekhyun moves, but Kyungsoo figures it’d be rude to ask. He doesn’t say much else, either—well, yeah, he could go with the obvious cliche of magic isn’t real, I’d know, but somehow Kyungsoo can tell this isn’t some Hollywood drama movie. Baekhyun’s gaze isn’t cocky or impudent. Simply curious.

“You don’t believe me, do you,” Baekhyun says, tone mirthful, drumming his fingers on the shop counter. He pulls out a drawer and rummages through its contents, before finally finding the object of his search and placing it on the table. “Tell me what you think this is,” he says to Kyungsoo, the half-smile shifting into an wry smirk.

Kyungsoo looks down. It’s a small golden object, somewhat key-shaped, but at the very tip, thin tendrils, wispy in the lighting, stretch out until they fade into nothing. Confused, he reaches out to touch it, but Baekhyun lunges forwards grabs his wrist just before he makes contact.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Baekhyun’s tone is light and playful, but almost fakely so. The warning sounds like a joke. But it’s not. 

Kyungsoo feels a chill run through him when he looks up to meet the erratic shopkeeper’s eyes. Eye. Baekhyun is mere inches away and holy hell, Kyungsoo has never been this intimidated in his life. 

Baekhyun’s lips move. “I really wouldn’t touch that if I were you.” Kyungsoo is hypnotized.

“You touched it,” he finally stammers, realizing Baekhyun’s been waiting for a response.

“Well, I’m not you, am I.” 

Kyungsoo licks his lips, nervous. “No, I suppose not. I don't know what that is.”

An entrancing smile breaks out on Baekhyun’s face, and he picks up the little key, closing his fist around it.

“You wouldn't be the only one not to know,” Baekhyun says, and normally, Kyungsoo would absolutely cringe at the cheesy, awful line. Normally, Kyungsoo is skeptical, sardonic, caustic—jaded, even, showbiz does that to a person. But this hasn’t been a normal encounter from the start, so Kyungsoo holds his tongue. 

His eyes haven’t left Baekhyun a single time, especially focused on the hand holding the key. Misdirection, the bread and butter of a magician. Kyungsoo waits for Baekhyun to distract him, to try and pull his attention elsewhere.

Baekhyun notices. Smiling, he opens his palm without moving so much as an inch from where he’d picked the key up. “I tell no lies,” he says, corners of his lips twitching.

Silently, Kyungsoo stares at the other man’s empty palm.

**Author's Note:**

> oh god this was a sudden decision at midnight; the witching hour, eh?
> 
> in any case, i'm impulsive but there will be more to this???? title comes from fall out boy's church; tags will updated as i work on sorting out my shit lol


End file.
